Altered cardiovascular adaptability in depressed patients without heart disease

Abstract

Our results provide further evidence for altered cardiovascular reactivity and impaired cardiac autonomic functioning in depression. Further research is needed on psychophysiological response to either more disease-oriented or more personality-oriented stressors.

Atypical reactivity of heart rate variability to stress and depression across development: Systematic review of the literature and directions for future research

“…The cognitive tasks consisted of numerical tasks, including random number generation (Shinba, 2014; Shinba et al, 2008), a calculation task in which the participants count aloud backwards as quickly and correctly as possible (Ahrens et al, 2008; Ehrenthal, Herrmann-Lingen, Fey, & Schauenburg, 2010; El-Sheikh, Keiley, Erath, & Dyer, 2013; Liang, Lee, Chen, & Chang, 2015), and a parity task in which participants decide the parity of numbers (Silvia, Nusbaum, Eddington, Beaty, & Kwapil, 2014). Other cognitive tasks included a mirror star tracing task (MSST), in which participants trace a star quickly and accurately while only seeing the mirror image of the star and receiving loud noise feedback when the stylus is not in contact with the star (Matthews, Nelesen, & Dimsdale, 2005; Rottenberg, Clift, Bolden, & Salomon, 2007).…”

“…Several other studies included various recall tasks designed to elicit specific emotions. For instance, one study used a relationship-focused guided imagery task to elicit feelings of love (Cyranowski et al, 2011), which was theorized to increase RSA among individuals during social engagement (Porges, 1995), whereas another used scripted emotional narratives categorized as pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral (Benvenuti, Mennella, Buodo, & Palomba, 2015), and one involved recall of anger experiences- though this was not separately analyzed from the cognitive stressor (Ehrenthal et al, 2010). …”

“…These studies predominantly examined RSA or HF-HRV reactivity in individuals diagnosed with MDD versus a control group of healthy individuals (Bylsma et al, 2014; Cyranowski et al, 2011; Ehrenthal et al, 2010; Rottenberg et al, 2003; 2007; Yaroslavsky et al, 2014), and two studies examined RSA reactivity in the course of depression among those with MDD (Panaite et al, 2016; Rottenberg et al, 2005). Three studies also included the other indices of HRV, including LF-HRV and LF/HF ratio, in MDD versus control groups (Liang et al, 2015; Nugent et al, 2011; Shinba et al, 2014).…”

“…Three studies also included the other indices of HRV, including LF-HRV and LF/HF ratio, in MDD versus control groups (Liang et al, 2015; Nugent et al, 2011; Shinba et al, 2014). Overall, the majority of the studies (N = 9; 82%) found that currently depressed individuals demonstrated atypical RSA reactivity to the stressor conditions, whereas their non-depressed counterparts experienced the expected RSA decrease (or withdrawal/reactivity) during the stressor task (Bylsma et al, 2014; Cyranowski et al, 2011; Ehrenthal et al, 2010; Liang et al, 2015; Rottenberg et al, 2003; 2007; Shinba et al, 2014). This atypical HRV reactivity seems to be consistent with a more disengaged or passive physiological response, rather than mobilizing the resources necessary to adapt or appropriately respond and cope with the environmental challenge.…”

Symptoms of anxiety and depression are related to cardiovascular responses to active, but not passive, coping tasks

“…For example, Ehrenthal et al compared cardiovascular reactivity to anger recall and mental arithmetic tasks in 25 individuals with severe depression without heart disease and 25 non-depressed participants. 25 The depressed participants exhibited overall reductions in HR, BP, and cardiac index. Increases in TPR index were also found in the depression groups, but with no significant difference between groups.…”